Power driver for last pins



Oct. 11, 1960 w. L. MQNEILL ETAL POWER DRIVER FOR LAST PINS Filed Dec. 24, 1958 INVENTORS WARREN L. MCNE|LL WALTER I. MCNEILL POWER DRIVER FOR LAST PINS Filed Dec. 24, 1958, Ser. No. 782,890 Claims. or. 1-1

This invention relates to the last making industry and comprises a new and improved machine for inserting and driving last pins in assembling the hinges of divided lasts.

It, is important to assemble under substantial initial stress the links of last hinges connecting the heel and forepart in order to insure a stiff and solid structure when the last is extended within the shoe upper. ,It is the practice, therefore, to employ tapered last pins and to insert these with a driving fit at one end of the hinge link while the last is in extended condition. 'In this way the desired initial tension is imparted to the connecting link and the joint between the parts of the last is maintained tight While that condition is necessary for good shoemaking. At the same time the capacity of the last to be conveniently collapsed is not impaired.

vThe object of the present invention is to provide a power operated machine for automatically inserting and driving last hinge pins under the conditions above explained and thus to eliminate the exacting and fatiguing hand labor heretofore required; also to speed up the Operation, reduce last damage and make certain of uni form results in the placing of the pins which are, of course, concealed when properly located in the last.

To these ends the machine of my invention includes in its structure a power operated pin driving plunger, a

last support having a retractable leader, and means for presentingv a hinge pin in line between the two, so that, having located the hinge pin hole in the last by means of the leader, the plunger may be advanced moving the pin first into end-toend contact with the leader and then forcing the pin into the last and through the link of the hingewhile the leader is being retracted and withdrawn from the last.

1 Preferably and as herein shown the last support includes a holder or cylinder in which the leader is mounted and the holder is pivoted so that it may be swung from an initial vertical to horizontal position. In its vertical position the leader projects up into free space and is in convenient position to have the drilled last threaded thereon. The holder may then be swung with the last into its horizontal driving position wherein the leader is brought into line with the driving plunger and a loose hinge pin that has previously been placed in position between the two.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for the purposes of illustration as shown in the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a plan view,

Fig. 2 is a corresponding view in elevation, partly in section,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in cross-section, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary View in longitudinal section.

The function of the machine is illustrated in Fig. 3 which is a fragmentary view showing portions of the forepart 10 and heel part 11 of a last connected by a hinge link 12 which is anchored in the heel part 11 by .United States Patent.

2,955,290 Patented Octf 11, 1960 a last pin 13 and in the forepart by a last pin 13. The machine herein described is designed to insert and drive one or the other of these pins into place in the last, passing through the link 12 and being set in a predetermined position in which both ends of the pin are concealed within the surfaces contour of the last. In the following description it may be assumed that the last pin 13 is driven while the last is presented in extended condition and in such relation that a substantial initial tension is developed in the link 12. In practice the last pin may be of tempered steel, one-quarter inch in diameter and formed with a tapered leading end as suggested in Fig. 3. p The machine as herein shown includes an elongated base 15 sufficiently stitf to maintain the parts carried thereby accurately and permanently in horizontal alignment. At the left hand end of the base as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are secured upstanding brackets 16 and 11 and in the upper ends of these brackets are formed bearings for a horizontal shaft 18. Upon this shaft is mounted a cylindrical carrier member or sleeve 19 and this is arranged to rock with the shaft 18 from the initial vertical position shown in Fig. 2 to the horizontal driving position shown in full lines in Figs; 1 and 2. Upon its inner or upper end the member 19 is provided with an adjustable cap 26 and upon the outer end of the cap is formed a tapering pilot 21 which is useful in finding the last pin hole provided in the last as it comes to the operator.

The member 19 is hollow and in eifect a sleeve wherein is seated a plunger 22 normally protruded by a compres-' sion spring 23 which encircles the plunger and bears at its rear end against an inner collar 24 and at its forward end against a short cross pin in the plunger. The plunger 22 is provided at itsforward end with a chuck to receive a leader 2'5 in the form of a tempered steel pin designed to pass freely through the pin hole of the last, to locate the last in position to receive thelast pin and then to 'retract'in leading the pin into the last.

The plunger 22 is so mounted in the sleeve 19 that when the latter is swung into its initial vertical position as shown in Fig. 2 the outer end of the plunger engages the top surface of the base 15 between the brackets 16 and 17 and is positively held with the leader 25 protruded in vertical position conveniently to'receive the last. The rear or outer end of the sleeve 19 is engaged by a limit stop in the form of a loop 26 projecting upwardly from the base 15 and so designed as to limit the clockwise swing of the sleeve 19 to the horizontal position shown in Fig. 2. A recessed lock or latch 27 is pivotally mounted upon the end of the'base 15 in posi: tion to engage and positively hold the sleeve 19 in the desired predetermined horizontal position, The pivotal mounting of the latch 27 includes a torsion spring 28 tending always to bias the latch toward its operative position. When the sleeve 19 is to be swunginto its initial vertical position the latch 27 is displaced or rocked against the tension of the spring 28 so as to release the sleeve 19 from engagemen. The carrier member 19 is so counterbalanced as to swing into its vertical lastreceiving position when released by the latch 27.

At the right hand end of the base 15 is secured a horizontally disposed compressedair cylinder 30 containing apiston 31 and. piston rod 32 carrying a head 33. The head has a threaded stem upon which is adjustably mounted a chuck 34; in the chuck is mounted a driving plunger 35 and this is replacably held in by a set screw. The cylinder 39 is double acting and provided with suitable compressed air connections and valves by which the piston 31 may be caused to reciprocate in a definite predetermined path. The cylinder 30 is so located as to bring the head 33 and the plunger 35 exactly in alignment with the leader 25 when the latter occupies its horizontal position. The travel of the plunger 35 may be adjusted longitudinally by turning the chuck 34 in one direction or the other upon the threaded stem of the head 33.

At an intermediate point-between the brackets 16-16, 17 and the cylinder 30 is located a stand or support 37. This is bolted to the base 15 and provided witha longitudinally bored body in which is found an open magazine 38 in which the last pins to be driven may be placed one after another. The bore of the stand 37 is accurately located in alignment with the leader 25 and the driving plunger 35 and the magazine 38 is so designed as to locate a last pin 12 in alignment and between these two members.

In operation a divided last comes to the operator with the hinge link 12 and one of the pins 13 or 13' in place. With the sleeve 19 in its initial vertical position as shown in Fig. 2 the last is threaded upon the upstanding leader 25 which is of such diameter as to pass with slight clearance into the hole of the last and through one end of the link 12. Having thus positioned the last the sleeve 19 is swung downwardly, still upon the leader 25, into the position shown in Fig. 1 as determined by the loop 26. In this position the last is automatically locked by the latch 29 and held between the cap 20 and the left hand end of the stand 37. The outer end of the driving plunger 35 is always guided in the bore of the stand 37. Upon operation of the proper valve the piston 31 is advanced toward the left, the driving plunger 35 engages the last pin in the magazine 38 and forces it out through the left side of the stand 37 into contact with the end of the leader 25. In the continued movement of the driving plunger 35 the leader 25 is retracted and the pin 13 is driven into the position indicated in Fig. 3, that is to say its tapered end guides the pin in a driving fit untl its driven end is located substantially within the surface of the heel part of the last.

At the conclusion of the driving operation the other compressed air valve is opened and the piston and driving plunger 35 are returned to initial position. In this movement the end of the driving plunger 35 is removed from the last whereupon the latch 27 may be released and the sleeve 19 with the last thereon returned to its upright initial position.

Having thus disclosed our invention and described an illustrative embodiment thereof, we claim as newnad desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A machine for inserting and driving last hinge pins, comprising a pivotally mounted sleeve carrying a normally protruded spring pressed leader and being movable from vertical to horizontal position, means for holding the leader fixedly protruded to receive a last when the leader occupies its vertical position, a power operated plunger movable in line with the leader when the sleeve is in its horizontal position, and a holder for locating a hinge pin in line between the plunger and the leader.

2. A machine for inserting and driving last hinge pins as described in claim 1, further characterized in that the pivotally mounted sleeve is provided with an adjustable collar having a projecting tapered pilot surrounding the leader for finding a hole in the last.

3. A machine for inverting and driving last hinge pins as described in claim 1, further characterized in that the pivotally mounted sleeve is counterbalanced to stand normally in a vertical position whereby a drilled last may be threaded upon the leader as it projects upwardly from the sleeve.

4. A machine for inserting and driving last hinge pins 4 as described in claim 1, further characterized in that a lock is provided for holding the sleeve positively with its leader in line with a pin in said holder.

5. A power operated machine for driving last pins, comprising an elongated base having a power cylinder at one end and a last holder at the other, the said holder including a carrier sleeve mounted to rock about a horizontal axis, an adjustable cap on one end of the sleeve having a tapering pilot for finding a last pin hole, a springpressed plunger mounted within the sleeve and carrying a tapered leader pin which is biased normally to project through the pilot, means for locking the leader pin in protrudedposition when the sleeve occupies an upright position while leaving the pin free to retract when the sleeve occupies a' horizontal position in line with the power cylinder, and means for temporarily locking the sleeve in horizontal position.

6. A machine for driving last hinge pins, comprising a swinging supporting member having a spring-pressed leader initially projecting into free space and held in fixed position to receive a drilled last containing a hinge link already pinned at one end, a holder for a loose hinge pin arranged to make contact with a last on said leader when the supporting member is swung substantially from its initial position, and a power operated plunger movable to advance the said hinge pin from its holder and insert it into the hole of the drilled last with a driving fit through the other end of hinge link therein.

7. A machine for driving last hinge pins as described in claim 6, further characterized in that the swinging supporting member has an abutment with provision for adjustment with respect to the stroke of the plunger such that the hinge pin is driven to a predetermined position entirely within the body of a last engaged by the abutment.

8. A machine for driving last hinge pins, comprising a base having a pair of upstanding brackets, a carrier member mounted to swing about a horizontal axis between said brackets from vertical last-receiving position to horizontal driving position, a spring pressed leader movably mounted in the carrier member and projecting entirely through the same whereby it bears upon the base between said brackets when in vertical position and is thus held in fixed protruded position.

9. A machine for driving last hinge pins as described in claim 8, further characterized in that the carrier member extends forwardly and rearwardly from its axis, and that a positive limit stop is arranged to engage the rear end of said member and hold it in predetermined horizontal driving position with the leader released for retraction.

10. A machine for driving last hinge pins as described in claim 8, further characterized by the provision of a spring latch pivotally mounted on the base and arranged to engage the carrier member when in horizontal driving position and hold it during the driving operation.

, References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 945,670 Anderson Jan. 4, 1910 1,456,079 Stuebner May 22, 1923 1,754,269 Fuller Apr. 15, 1930 2,244,878 Havener June 10, 1941 2,448,833 Royer Sept. 7, 1948 2,645,846 Thompson July 21, 1953 

